Clothing and cloth structure thereof

ABSTRACT

A piece of clothing and a cloth structure thereof are provides. The cloth structure is used for making the piece of clothing and the piece of clothing is adapted to be worn by an object for keeping the object warm. The cloth structure comprises a surface layer, a thermal storage layer, and a thermal isolation layer. The thermal storage layer is configured to absorb heat radiated from the object when the piece of clothing is worn by the object. The thermal isolation layer is between the surface layer and the thermal storage layer and faces the thermal storage layer. The thermal isolation layer is configured to isolate heat from radiating out the thermal isolation layer.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a piece of clothing and a clothestructure thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to apiece of clothing and a cloth structure for making the piece ofclothing. When the piece of clothing is worn by an object, the clothstructure is able to keep the object warm.

2. Descriptions of the Related Art

A feature of nearly all human societies is the wearing of garments, acategory encompassing a wide variety of materials that cover the body.One of the primary purposes of garments is to keep the wearer warm,which is especially important in cold climates. In some specificactivities under the very cold climates, such as mountaineering or polarexploration, keeping the wearer warm is a critical requirement ofgarments. The garments with the formidable ability of keeping warm maybe called the “cold protection garments.”

To achieve the requirement of keeping warm, a person usually wearsseveral pieces of garments on himself or herself at the same time whenthe weather is cold, which usually makes that person feel awkward. Toprevent from being awkwardness, many people wear sweaters or garmentsmade of warm materials, such as wool, cashmere, and furs. However,garments made of these warm materials are usually expensive.Furthermore, making garments by furs is against our environment.

In summary, a garment that can keep a person warm and that is alsoaffordable to users and friendly to our environment is highly demanded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide a piece of clothingand a cloth structure thereof. The cloth structure is used for makingthe piece of clothing and the piece of clothing is adapted to be worn byan object. The cloth structure comprises a surface layer, a thermalstorage layer, and a thermal isolation layer. The thermal storage layeris configured to absorb heat radiated from the object when the piece ofclothing is worn by the object. The thermal isolation layer is betweenthe surface layer and the thermal storage layer and faces the thermalstorage layer. The thermal isolation layer is configured to isolate heatfrom radiating out the thermal isolation layer.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a clothstructure for making a piece of clothing being adapted to be worn by anobject. In addition to the aforementioned three layers, the clothstructure further comprises a heat generating layer, which is betweenthe thermal isolation layer and the thermal storage layer and isconfigured for generating an amount of heat.

In summary, the present invention provides the cloth structure formaking a piece of clothing. The piece of clothing may effectivelyprevent heat losing from a person who wears it and further generate anamount of heat to keep a warm temperature for the person. Hence, thepresent invention may effectively overcome the defects of theconventional technique.

The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for thepresent invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanyingthe appended drawings for people skilled in this field to wellappreciate the features of the claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a garment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a cloth structure for making the garment of a firstembodiment of the present invention in cross-section;

FIG. 3 illustrates a cloth structure for making the garment of a secondembodiment of the present invention in cross-section; and

FIG. 4 illustrates the connection relationship between a heat generatinglayer, a thermal controller, and a battery in the second embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention provides a piece of clothing and a cloth structurethereof. The cloth structure is used for making the piece of clothing.The piece of clothing is adapted to be worn by an object to keep a warmtemperature for the object. In the following embodiments, the piece ofclothing may be a garment and the object may be a person who may wearthe garment to prevent heat losing. Furthermore, the garment cangenerate an amount of heat to keep a warm temperature for the person. Itshould be noted that in other embodiments the piece of clothing may begloves, socks, shoes, sleeping bags, etc, which may be easily understoodby people skilled in the art based on the disclosures and suggestions ofthe present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a garment 1 of the present invention, which isadapted to be worn by the person. The garment 1 is made of a clothstructure which comprises a surface layer 101 and a plurality clothinglayers (not shown). The functions and corresponding relations of thesurface layer 101 and the piece of clothing layers will be interpretedin the following paragraphs. In is noted that in other embodiment, thegarment may be worn by other objects, such as a pet.

A first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 2,which is a cross-sectional view of the cloth structure for making thegarment 1. In this embodiment, the cloth structure comprises the surfacelayer 101 and two clothing layers (i.e. a thermal isolation layer 103and a thermal storage layer 105 as shown in FIG. 2). The surface layer101 may be made from any windproof, waterproof or insulated material.

The thermal isolation layer 103 is between the surface layer 101 and thethermal storage layer 105. The thermal isolation layer 103 has a surfacefacing to the thermal storage layer 105, more specifically, it is rightbeneath, attached or laminated the surface layer 101. The thermalisolation layer 103 is made with an Al₂O₃ material, an TiO2 material ora combination thereof to reflect heat off the thermal isolation layer103. In detail, the thermal isolation layer 103 is made with any thermalreflection material that can make heat be reflected off the thermalisolation layer 103, where the heat is radiated from the person's body.That is to say, the thermal isolation layer 103 reflects heat inward toreduce the leakage of thermal energy. In addition, the thermal isolationlayer 103 may have a thickness substantially equal to 20 μm. It alsoshould be noted that, in this embodiment, the thermal isolation layer103 has the thickness of 20 μm, but it may have other thicknesses inother embodiment. In other words, the thickness of the thermal isolationlayer 103 does not limit the present invention. Furthermore, in otherembodiments, the thermal isolation layer 103 may be made of air, insteadof the thermal reflection material

When the garment 1 is worn by the person, the thermal storage layer 105is the layer that is closest to the person's body. The thermal storagelayer 105 may have a thickness substantially equal to 20 μm, and may bemade from a far infra-red emission material or a phase change material(PCM). For example, the far infra-red emission material can be titanium,bamboo charcoal, or a combination thereof. It should be noted that, inthis embodiment, the thermal storage layer 105 has the thicknesssubstantially equal to 20 μm, but it may have other thicknesses in otherembodiment. In other words, the thickness of the thermal storage layer105 does not limit the present invention.

In practice, the thermal storage layer 105 made from the far infra-redemission material can absorb the heat radiated from the person's bodywhen the garment 1 is worn by the person. Specifically, the heatradiated from the body of the person is thermal energy, whose wavelengthis several micrometers and could be absorbed by the far infra-redemission material. Moreover, after absorbing the thermal energy, the farinfra-red emission material generates the energy of longer wavelengtharound 10 micrometers, which can penetrate the human body to provide thewarmness for the person. People skilled in this field may have known howthe far infra-red emission material generates the energy of longerwavelength. Thus, no further details are given.

Similarly, the thermal storage layer 105 also absorbs the heat reflectedfrom the thermal isolation layer 103. In particular, the thermal storagelayer 105 may absorb the heat radiated from the person's body orreflected from the thermal isolation layer 103, and radiate the absorbedheat in the way of emitting the “far-infra-red.” As a result, thethermal storage layer 105 helps the thermal isolation layer 103 to keepthe heat inside the garment to reduce the heat losing from the portionsof the garment that are not covered by the thermal isolation layer 103.In addition, the thermal isolation layer 103 also helps the thermalstorage layer 105 to reabsorb the heat dispersed from the thermalstorage layer 105 by reflecting the heat.

A second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 3,which is another cross-sectional view of the cloth structure for makingthe garment 1. As same as the first embodiment, the cloth structure alsocomprises the surface layer 101, the thermal isolation layer 103, andthe thermal storage layer 105 in the second embodiment. Similarly, whenthe garment 1 is worn by the person, the thermal storage layer 105 isthe layer that is closest to the person.

In the second embodiment, the garment 1 further comprises a heatgenerating layer 107 between the thermal isolation layer 103 and thethermal storage layer 105. The heat generating layer 107 may be madewith stainless steel fiber, carbon fabrics, metal film or a combinationthereof, and is configured to generate an amount of heat. The thermalstorage layer 105 further absorbs the amount of heat generated by theheat generating layer, and the thermal isolation layer 103 furtherreflect the amount of heat, which is generated by the heat generatinglayer, off the thermal isolation layer 103.

In other words, the thermal storage layer 105 can not only absorb theheat from the person's body, but also absorb the heat generated by theheat generating layer 107. Further, the thermal storage layer 105 mayradiate the absorbed heat in the way of emitting the “far-infra-red.”The thermal isolation layer 103 can not only reflect the heat radiatedfrom the person's body, but also reflect the heat generated by the heatgenerating layer 107 so that the garment 1 can keep a warm temperaturefor the person.

Please refer to FIG. 4 together. The garment 1 further comprises acontroller 13 and a battery 15, where the battery 15 is electricallyconnected to the controller 13 and two terminals of the heat generatinglayer 107. The controller 13 is capable of measuring a temperature 102inside the garment 1 periodically and enabling the battery 15 to supplya voltage 104 to the heat generating layer according to the temperature102. Moreover, the controller 13 can directly enable the battery 15 tosupply the voltage 104 with a controlling duty cycle, such as 50% in aperiod, without measuring the temperature 102 inside the garment 1. Thebattery 15 supplies the voltage 104 to the heat generating layer 107 viathe two ends of the heat generating layer 107. Thus, the heat generatinglayer 107 generates the amount of heat according to the voltage 104.

There are many scenarios. For example, when the temperature 102 insidethe garment 1 measured by the controller 13 is below 20° C., the battery15 will be enabled to supply a 5V voltage to the two terminals of theheat generating layer 107; when the temperature 102 exceeds 30° C., thebattery 15 will stop to supply the 5V voltage. For another example, thecontroller 13 enables the battery 15 to supply the 5V voltage for 30minutes per hour to generate the amount of heat when the temperature 102is below 20° C. Still another example, the controller 13 can directlyenables the battery 15 to supply the 5V voltage for 30 minutes per hourwithout measuring the temperature 102. Thus, the heat generating layer107 can be seemed as a resistor with a current flow through it forgenerating the amount of heat.

In summary, the cloth structure of the present invention can be used formaking a piece of clothing being adapted to be worn by an object (e.g. aperson). Thanks to the advantage of combing the thermal isolation layer103 and the thermal storage layer 105, the heat losing from the person'sbody can be effectively kept inside the piece of clothing. Moreover, theheat generating layer 107 can further provide the additional heat tomake the temperature inside the garment 1 warmer. Hence, the presentinvention can effectively prevent heat losing from the garment 1 when aperson wears the garment 1 and further keep a warm temperature for theperson, and then it may successfully overcome the defects of theconventional technique.

The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents andinventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceedwith a variety of modifications and replacements based on thedisclosures and suggestions of the invention as described withoutdeparting from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although suchmodifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the abovedescriptions, they have substantially been covered in the followingclaims as appended.

1. A cloth structure for making a piece of clothing being adapted to beworn by an object, comprising: a surface layer; a thermal storage layer,being configured to absorb heat radiated from the object when the pieceof clothing is worn by the object; and a thermal isolation layer,between the surface layer and the thermal storage layer, facing thethermal storage layer, and being configured to isolate heat fromradiating out the thermal isolation layer.
 2. The cloth structure asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising a heat generating layer betweenthe thermal isolation layer and the thermal storage layer for generatingan amount of heat.
 3. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 2, whereinthe heat generating layer is made with stainless steel fiber, carbonfabrics, metal film or a combination thereof.
 4. The cloth structure asclaimed in claim 2, wherein the thermal storage layer further absorbsthe amount of heat generated by the heat generating layer.
 5. The clothstructure as claimed in claim 2, wherein the thermal isolation layer ismade with an Al₂O₃ material, an TiO2 material or a combination thereofto reflect heat off the thermal isolation layer.
 6. The cloth structureas claimed in claim 5, wherein the thermal isolation layer furtherreflect the amount of heat, generated by the heat generating layer, offthe thermal isolation layer.
 7. The cloth structure as claimed in claim1, wherein the thermal isolation layer has a thickness substantiallyequal to 20 μm.
 8. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe thermal isolation layer is formed of air.
 9. The cloth structure asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the thermal storage layer is made from a farinfra-red emission material.
 10. The cloth structure as claimed in claim1, wherein the thermal storage layer is made from a phase changematerial (PCM).
 11. The cloth structure as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe thermal storage layer has a thickness substantially equal to 20 μm.12. A piece of clothing having the cloth structure as claimed inclaim
 1. 13. A piece of clothing having the cloth structure as claimedin claim
 2. 14. The piece of clothing as claimed in claim 13, furthercomprising: a battery, being configured to supply a voltage; and acontroller, electrically connected to the battery, being configured toenable the battery to supply the voltage, wherein the heat generatinglayer has at least one terminal electrically connected to the battery,so as to generate the amount of heat according to the voltage.